Just listing your experiences and endeavors can reveal incredible things and encourage you to work for nearly impossible, rigorous, and unseen. Recently, during a course on INQUIRY, I was asked to make a list of one hundred things I didn't know. Here a simple list became a prospect for unknown and an introduction to something new. As Henry Miller states, "Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery."

I have also discovered that journal keeping is a great way to zero in. For instance, if you were preparing to run a marathon and wanted to improve your performance as a runner. You might put together a book that included:

Fillers Are In Demand

I've spoken to hundreds of editors and been told over and over again that fillers are one thing they never get enough of. Most publications tend to publish more freelance fillers than they do freelance articles. Yet, they often receive 100 times more articles than fillers. This is a gap in freelance market that you can take advantage of.

Fillers are a Great Place to Get Started

Many publications are careful about publishing feature articles from writers they don't know. Even if your article is good, an editor might decide not to publish you because they don't know you as a writer. This is especially true if you don't have a lot of experience or any clips. But even without experience or clips, most editors will consider a filler. In fact, many editors treat writing fillers as testing ground to see if a writer can be relied on to write feature articles.

Here's what one editor had to say about fillers:

"One of best ways to break in is to write fillers. It gives me a chance to start to build a relationship with a writer and see that I can trust them. Of all freelancers I work with, over half started out writing fillers." - Margaret, Magazine Editor

So not only can writing fillers get you some clips, it also has potential to turn into a long-term writing opportunity. Consider fillers a stepping stone to much bigger things.

The Smart Way to Write on Spec

Fillers are almost always submitted on spec. This means that you avoid problem of having to query publication and sell yourself as a writer, because your filler is doing work for you and showing editor your writing skill.